Breaking hearts, breaking chains: Paris removes ‘love locks’

Paris, known worldwide as the city of romance, Monday began the heart-breaking process of removing tens of thousands of “love-locks”, padlocks chained to the city’s bridges by love-struck couples.

Yellow-vested officials were out early Monday morning on the city’s iconic Pont des Arts, wielding cutting equipment to free the padlocks while a handful of curious tourists looked on. Loved-up visitors from around the world have for years written their name on padlocks to symbolise their passion, then tossed the key into the River Seine so that nothing could ever break the bond. Or at least, that’s what they thought.

What is for couples a harmless act of passion is for city authorities a potentially dangerous headache.